Modern electronic devices, including mobile phones, tablets, laptop computers, game controllers and other similar computing devices, have evolved over recent years to the point where they now possess a broad range of capabilities. They are not only capable of placing and receiving mobile phone calls, multimedia messaging (MMS), and sending and receiving email, but they can also access the Internet, are GPS-enabled, possess considerable processing power and large amounts of memory, and are equipped with high-resolution color liquid crystal displays capable of detecting touch input. As such, today's devices are general purpose computing and telecommunication devices capable of running a multitude of applications. For example, modern devices can run web browsers, navigation systems, media players and gaming applications.
Along with these enhanced capabilities has come a demand for larger displays to provide a richer user experience. Mobile phone displays have increased in size to the point where they can now consume almost an entire front surface of a phone. In some cases, further increases in display size would detract from other capabilities of the device, such as its pocket-size form factor.
As a result, multi-part devices are becoming more popular. Multi-part devices have two or more parts that are coupled together, such as by a hinged or sliding arrangement. In many multi-part devices, there are multiple displays that can be positioned adjacent each other to expand the effective display size. In the case of a two-part device with each part having a single display, both displays are face-to-face in a closed position so as to protect the displays. In an open position, the displays are side by side to provide a maximum display area. In a fully-open position, the dual displays are positioned back-to-back so the user can simply rotate the device to view the opposing display.
Hinges for such dual-display devices are problematic. Typically, the hinges can protrude from the device as it moved between positions. As devices continually become thinner, hinges need to be adapted to accommodate the thinner displays without further protrusion from the back of the device as it is opened and closed. Other problems include that the displays do not open and close smoothly.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide improved hinges for multiple display devices.